


A Case of You

by stylesforstiles



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, Photographer Louis, Sad Musician Harry, Very fluffy Ziam, fluff and angst and comfort, happy outcome though I promise!, mentions of abuse (sorry)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-07
Updated: 2013-09-07
Packaged: 2017-12-25 22:14:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,947
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/958200
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stylesforstiles/pseuds/stylesforstiles
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Louis lives his life around photographs, and Harry's a picture he can't figure out </p><p>AU where there they all live and work in LA, and the story's in a song</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Case of You

**Author's Note:**

> Hiii friends! So I don't usually write angsty stories, but I wanted to give it a go. Some of it is told with song lyrics, and those parts are written italics :)
> 
> There will be a list of the songs and artists at the end, thanks for reading! xo

Louis pulled out his phone as he hurried up the sidewalk, cursing under his breath. Bloody traffic in LA, you could leave fifteen minutes early and still turn up to wherever you needed to be fifteen minutes late. Luckily the band that he was photographing tonight were long time clients; who were pretty chill and laid back so he would be saved the snarky ‘we don’t pay you to be late’ commentary. He sometimes found it to be quite the struggle not to be a dickhead back to them, but he also quite likes his job and everyone knows what a bitch it is to get work in LA, so he tended to keep his mouth shut.

He knew that he was lucky to have stumbled into this job pretty much right after uni, thanks to his boyfriend…well ex-boyfriend now, Greg, who worked for a popular record label. He had recommended Louis to shoot the candid’s for one of their clients upcoming albums, which he had gotten rave reviews for, and soon he was being contracted out to another band, and then another, and before he knew it he was doing a photo shoot with Ke$ha, and the rest as they say, is history. He was currently working on a portfolio for a book about rock and roll music venues on Sunset Strip, so it was kind of a refreshing change to be snapping pictures of up and coming artists who haven’t yet been jaded. 

He rushed through the doors, offering a hasty wave to the always perky bar manager Niall. “They backstage already?”

He nodded, giving him a wave back from where he was perched at the bar chatting with the house DJ Nick. Louis paused briefly, pulling out his camera to capture the moment, because why shouldn’t they be included in the book as well? They were just as much of a fixture as any band playing there. He found his way backstage, where the band was already indulging in shots, which they insisted Louis take with them, and by the third round of tequila Louis knew that he would once again be taking a cab back home to Venice.

He sat at the bar after he finished up, going through his pictures while having his arm easily twisted by Niall to stay out and have more drinks.

“Come on, just stay Tommo, you can crash at my place tonight!”

Louis glanced up from his camera, a tight lipped smile on his face. “Sure, yeah, may as well right?”

Because Louis didn’t have anything to go home to except an eerily quiet apartment ever since Greg left.

They had met during Louis’ first semester at uni, both of them falling so hard for each other, that they only way they could’ve have fallen out of it was for it to be just as dramatic as the falling in love part. There were accusations and jealousy and countless nights spent on their friends’ couches, until finally one day they were both just so tired of it. Louis kissed him one last time, his palm pressed to his cheek, his eyes trying to make him understand.

“ _I wish we were seventeen…so I could give you all the innocence that you gave to me._ ”

Greg closed his eyes, leaning his forehead against Louis’, a soft smile on his lips. “Bet you were still a handful at seventeen.”

And that was it. Louis watched him pile the last of his boxes into his car, and waved the last five years of his life goodbye. It wasn’t a sad goodbye, nor a happy one. Just a goodbye.

It’s not like Louis wasn’t used to it by now, being alone, he just preferred to be out. He’s always been better surrounded by the company of others. Then again, maybe that was a sign telling him he didn’t _like_  to be alone.

Nick pulled up a stool next to him, grabbing the camera out of his hands. He quickly took a picture of Louis’ annoyance, handing him the camera back with a pat on the back.

“You just make the most adorable little faces when you’re annoyed, love.”

Louis frowned down at the picture, but opted not to delete it. “Interesting that I’m mostly annoyed when you’re around. Don’t you have a set to DJ?”

“I do, yes, right after my pal’s depression session is over,”

Louis swiveled around in his chair, turning to face the stage again. He watched the gangly figure pull a guitar out of a battered case, and when he finally eased up and turned around Louis for some reason sung ‘ _blue jean baby, LA lady'_ in his mind. Because this boys features were just so pretty. His hair was pushed off his face, a patterned scarf firmly wrapped into his hair to keep the sweaty curls at bay, his skin almost too translucently pale for someone living in LA, with a faint line of purple standing out under each eye. He had an elegant nose, and lips so pink that Louis was already convinced he was wearing bubblegum flavored gloss. His torso and legs were miles long, all tucked into plaid and beat up jeans. He was beautiful.

Louis turned his head back towards Nick. “So, what’s his deal then?”

Nick flicked his eyes at Niall before taking a sip of his beer, picking idly at the label. “Nothing…we just let him come and sing. It’s good for him.”

Louis started to ask why, but a soft smoky voice started to fill the room. Louis unconsciously picked up his camera as he murmured his way through the song.

“ _I don’t care if it hurts, I want to have control…I want a perfect body, I want a perfect soul…I want you to notice, when I’m not around…you’re so fucking special, I wish I was special_ …”

When he was finished, Louis slowly eased his camera away from his face. Nick bounced off his chair immediately, rushing over to give him what seemed to look like a comforting rub along his back. Nick comforting someone…well that was different. Louis didn’t think he had it in him. He leaned in to whisper something into his ear, which had him anxiously biting his lips. He peered over at the bar and caught Louis’ eyes for a moment, and Louis was right about the song that played in his head when he first saw him… _’pretty eyes…pirate smile._ ’

They started making their way back to the bar where Nick did a hasty introduction before running off to the DJ booth.

“Harry this is Louis, Louis this Harry. You can work out the rest.”

Louis moved his hand to shake Harry’s, but he just stood there with his hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans. Louis wiped his palm on his jeans, unsure of how to start his now awkward conversation.

“You were very good up there. You a big Radiohead fan?”

He shrugged, his eyes not quite meeting Louis’ “Um, yeah, I think they have a lot of lyrics that are relatable to people.”

Louis looked at him thoughtfully. If you wanted to relate to depressing lyrics, yes they were fantastic. He motioned at his camera. “I hope you don’t mind, but I took your picture? I’m doing a piece on Sunset Strip, so just kind of trying to capture the mood of every club and such,”

A look passed over his face and Louis couldn’t tell if he was upset, or was he scared? His eyes widened and he fumbled with his guitar case, mumbling under his breath. “I have to go.”

Louis watched as he ambled over to a tall and burly, dark haired man, who was looking at Harry with eyes that had a certain glint in them. He tucked Harry under his arm, and threw a shifty eyed look around the club before guiding them both out the door. Louis waved Niall over, thumbing in the direction of the door.

“What’s the deal with that Harry kid, and who was the scary looking dude that picked him up?”

Niall placed a beer in front of him, leaning on his forearms against the bar. “Harry is…he’s a little lost. We’ve been trying to help him find his way,”

Louis raised his eyebrows at Niall’s cryptic answer. He laughed, shaking his head. “He’s a good kid, very quiet. He finds it easiest to talk through his songs. So, we let him. As for the dude…that’s his boyfriend, Dan.” Niall’s face darkened as soon as the name left his lips.

Louis took another long sip of his beer. He didn’t want to care about his story, but he was intrigued now.

“Does he play here every Saturday?”

And just like that Niall was already handing him another beer. “Just about, yeah.”

Louis nodded and accepted the fresh pint. He needed to get really drunk. And not worry about fair skinned boys with too pink of lips and eyes that had seen too much.

*

Louis woke up the next morning with a semi reasonable headache and all of his memories intact from the night before. Hmm. Perhaps Niall was going soft on him. He rolled over to grab his phone off the nightstand, which he found next to a glass of water, a bottle of Aspirin and a note from Niall – don’t fucking wake me up. He wondered if that was just for him, or if Niall left this for all of his guests.

He smiled at the one message he had waiting for him, because it was a Sunday standard from his best mate Zayn.

-          Brunch at 11, regular spot. Don’t be late you hungover slag xx

There were different variations of this message, but this is the one that he got the most frequently. He had met Zayn a few years back when he had a showing at the art gallery he managed. Louis thought he had been hitting on him when he asked if he wanted to share a joint with him in the back room, only to find out that Zayn had a boyfriend, Liam, who he was crazy in love with. However, he wasn’t a big marijuana connoisseur, and Zayn thought Louis was ‘pretty cool’ judging from his photos, which had deemed him acceptable to share his Hawaiian Gold with. Louis met Liam shortly after, and it turned out that they had actually seen each other before as Liam was a session musician for different artists. So that was that. A friendship was formed.

Louis quickly gathered up his clothes from the night before, pulling his jeans on but decided to steal a clean t shirt of Niall’s, which he didn’t think he would miss seeing how he had an alarming amount of white v neck t shirts tucked into his drawers.  He scribbled a thank you on the note he was left and quickly tip toed out the front door, shutting it slowly behind him.

It was surprisingly warm out, so Louis decided to walk to the restaurant instead of throwing his lazy arse into a cab. It was nice to feeling the sun beating down on his skin, his perpetual tan greedily soaking up the rays. While he sometimes missed home so much he ached right down to the bone, he did not miss the shit weather. Sunny and balmy was much better for his general health. He swung open the door of the restaurant and rolled his eyes at a cheery, waving Zayn and Liam. They were never the standard LA fifteen minutes late.

Sometimes Louis just had to pause a moment and look at them – a photographers flaw, always trying to capture a moment – because they just radiated pure happiness. The way Liam comfortably leaned into Zayn as they shared a hushed conversation as Louis made his way over, and the smile the Zayn had on his face when he pulled away. It was sickeningly sweet. Louis then remembered back to a night where they had dinner at his place and got proper drunk off a case of red that Louis was given as a gift from a client. He stood at the open French doors leading out to his patio, listening to Zayn and Liam giggle into each other’s necks, stopping moments later when Zayn ran a thumb down Liam’s cheek, his eyes sparkling as bright as the fairy lights Louis had strung up outside.

“ _Mmm, it’s always better when we’re together…we’ll look at the stars when we’re together._ ”

Liam snorted, pulling him into a hug, placing a kiss on the top of his head. “We already are looking at the stars you big sap, we’re outside.”

Louis backed away slowly, leaving them to the rest of their private moment. Though he loved his friends dearly, he couldn’t help but feel a pang of sadness in his chest. He missed that, the quiet intimacy.

He shook the image out of his head, smiling as he slid into the booth across from them. “Happy brunch Sunday, boys!”

Zayn cocked an eyebrow, as Liam stifled an amused grin. “You're awfully chipper this morning, didn’t happen to partake in a one night stand now did you?

Louis snapped open his menu, grin widening. “No mum, I did not have potentially awkward nor potentially mind blowing sex with anyone. But that's kind of sad now that you’ve brought it up,” he pouted his lips out momentarily, finally getting that laugh out of Liam that he had been holding in. “I just really happen to enjoy lunch with my favorite power couple, is that so wrong?”

Liam’s laugh was even brighter as he nudged Zayn with his shoulder. “Hear that babe, we’re a power couple,”

Zayn nudged him back, smiling at Louis. “He’s just saying that so we’ll buy him breakfast.”

Louis nodded, glancing up as he perused the menu. “And drive me home too?” Louis bat his eyelashes for emphasis.

Zayn smacked him with a menu before handing it off to their server as she waited to take their order. “Wanker.”

They rambled off their orders, Louis teasing Liam about swapping for egg wipes – a time honored weekly tradition – before settling back with his cup of tea.

Zayn stirred his own, giving him a questioning look. “What did you get up to last night then?”

“Worked for part of it, I’m still shooting for that book about Sunset Strip. Just sat around with Niall and Nick after and watched a friend of theirs play.”

Now was the time for Liam to pipe up, as this was his area of interest. “Anyone I’ve heard of?”

Louis shook his head. “Nah, it was just an acoustic session, one kid on guitar,”

“He any good?”

Louis remembered the haunting quality to his voice, the slight pain behind it. Why was that pain there? What was troubling him? Louis flicked his eyes back over to Liam. “Yeah he was, kind of a had smoky tone to his voice? It was different, kind of heartbreaking in a way.”

Zayn’s face scrunched up. “Sounds a bit moody for my liking,”

Louis laughed. “He _was_ singing Radiohead.”

Liam however, was still intrigued. “Is he playing again next week?”

Louis scratched his head, thinking back to Nick’s comment about them letting him play each week. “He should be as far Nick said. I have to go back to shoot The React next week, so I'll be there.”

Liam slapped the table excitedly. “Really?! I’ve been trying to get in for their album recording, they’re brilliant!”

“Alright then, come meet me down there, I’ll introduce you to the band, I’m sure you’ll be signed in no time.”

Zayn frowned, pointing a fork at him. “Hey, don’t forget that promise you owe me as well, I’ve had high demand for another showing from you. Hurry your faux rock star little arse up with it already.”

Louis stuck his tongue out, digging into his greasy breakfast. “Calm down, it’s going to happen, I just want it to be perfect. Nothing but perfection for you, Mr. Malik.”

“Fine, but you’ll have something soonish?"

“Definitely,” Louis lied around a mouthful of food.

It wasn’t that he was going to flake out on Zayn, he would never, it’s just that every idea he’s thought of has been so overdone, and he’d been so consumed with this book that he hasn’t had time to be inspired by anything. Though fall was on its way, maybe he could do something horror themed in honor of Halloween? Ugh. He almost dropped his face in his ketchup covered hash browns for being so unoriginal.

He was better than some over played black and white Bela Lugosi photo display. He was.

…

It was still gnawing at the back of his mind when Zayn and Liam dropped him off a short while later, so he decided to take a stroll down the boardwalk, forfeiting going to his apartment once again. He knows that subconsciously this was him not wanting to be alone in it, but he was going to pretend he was looking for inspiration. He didn’t know which was worse, pretending to be inspired, or pretending that he didn’t hate being alone.

He wandered aimlessly, it’s not like he actually needed crap from the street vendors, and he had just eaten, so that wasn’t necessary either. He tugged off his shoes and headed over to the beach, the warm sand soft between his toes. He eyed up the half pipe and trailed off in that direction, figuring he may as well take some pictures, he did have a soft spot for skate culture after all. He stood at the edge, taking his camera out of the Vans backpack he had strapped on – you couldn’t take the skater boy out of him at all – and started snapping a few pictures.

He hummed to himself, something that sounded an awful lot like the new Katy Perry song, wondering if maybe this would make a good show for the gallery. He knew Zayn was into skateboarding as well, maybe if he made them into black and white shots and highlighted the graffiti in color…he trailed off that thought, moving his camera away from his face; and straightening up from his crouch.

It was the boy from the night before. Harry, as Louis recalled, skateboarding down a half pipe in a pair of baggy rolled up jean shorts and a black Henley of all things. How was he not sweltering? Louis quickly pulled his camera back up to take a shot of him midair, before stuffing his feet back into his shoes to jog over to the side Harry had landed on.

He was bent over tying the laces of his once white converse high top, and Louis smirked at the American flag bandana that held most of his hair back. He looked like a hipster that had gotten lost on the way to the ironic t shirt store further down the boardwalk. Louis tapped his shoulder, causing him to jolt away, which had him toppling over on his bum, gaping at Louis with wide, frightened eyes.

Louis frowned, pulling his hand back quickly. “Shit, sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” He looked like he was about to bolt, his chest heaving up and down. “Ah, we met last night? At the club? I was with Nick and Niall…” Louis raised his hands helplessly.

His eyes finally flickered with recognition. He sat up on his elbows and Louis offered him a hand to help him up, which he ignored, brushing himself off as he stood up. Louis shrugged, taking his hand back, titling his head to look at Harry. Who was once again averting his eyes. He shuffled his feet back and forth, softly answering Louis back.

“Yes…I remember.”

Louis really didn’t know how to deal with someone this painfully timid and shy, especially if he had no clue as to why. Yet here he was ready to pry something out of him.

“So, you can skateboard as well as sing; you’re a man of many talents, Harry,”

Louis saw the blush creep up to his ears as he bit his lip, shaking his head. “No, I mean I work at a skate shop down here, so I just mess around out there. And the singing…it’s nothing.”

Louis didn’t want to touch him again, so he tried to sound firm with his voice instead. “Harry, listen to me,” which worked since he jerked his head up, his eyes nervously dancing about. “I have heard a lot of bloody awful singers in my day. You have a fantastic voice. Just trust me on that.”

He continued to chew on his lip so hard Louis was concerned he was going to spilt it open. But at least he finally looked him directly in the eyes. “Okay…thank you,” he hesitated a moment, opening his mouth to ask Louis something, but closing it immediately.

Louis watched in fascination as he squeezed his eyes shut, popping them open a moment later and breathlessly asked him. “Um, what is it that you do…you know the pictures…?”

He pointed to Louis’ chest where his camera slung down from around his neck. Louis touched it absently, surprised that Harry had asked him anything at all. “Oh! I freelance for different bands and singers and the like, and sometimes I do shows on the side at my friend's gallery. That’s why I was down here,” he indicated toward the half pipe “Trying to come up with an idea for my next show.”

Harry was watching him with those wide green eyes, his hand running along his stomach. Louis noticed a flinch in his face as his fingers brushed closer to his side. Harry seemed to ignore it though. “That’s really cool,” He glanced down at his watch (a very expensive watch Louis noticed) before looking back at Louis with panicked eyes. “I have to run back to work, sorry. It was nice… I mean, like, thanks for chatting with me,”

“It was nice to see you again Harry, and hey if you’re ever bored or whatever I live just down that way, the apartment with the red door. Pop by and say hi anytime.”

Harry nodded, giving him a half smile before turning on his heel and striding away, fingers clutching his side once again.

Louis sighed. Now he was even more intrigued. This was not something he needed, especially not this close to his home, because let’s not forget Louis was lonely and this was giving him a perfect opportunity to butt his nose where it did not belong. But he couldn’t stop it; his brain just couldn’t help but wonder why a boy with such an angelic face looked like he was running away from the devil.

*

The thing about not wanting to be alone in your own home is that it made for a lot more productivity. Louis took on more clients than he usually did, which was not only good for his bank account, but it kept him out and about, plus he was meeting plenty of new people, which meant more people to go out and get drunk with. And it’s not that it was even about missing Greg, it was that he wasn’t used to being alone. There, he admitted it. Louis has always had a fear about the future, and when he was alone that’s all that consumed him… _so scared of getting older, I’m only good at being young_ , he’d think to himself as he sorted through another stack of photos of hopeless dreamers .He wondered what they thought about their futures?

He found himself staring at one of the pictures he took of Harry, taking in his features. He looked beautifully maudlin if that was even a thing. He had a serene kind of sadness around his eyes, like he had come to accept it or something. Louis brushed his fingertips over the photo, his lips pursed in a frown. Why was he sad? He seemed much too young to have eyes that were so haunting. Louis sighed, pushing the photo away. None of your fucking business Tomlinson. Get your head into your own life, before you receive yet another ‘anything yet???’ message from Zayn.

Even though Louis loved him dearly, he was extremely relieved that he had to work on Saturday instead of joining him and Liam at the club. He needed a night of from being pressured by him, even though Louis knew Zayn was just trying to give him a kick in the arse the best way he knew how. By being an annoying twat.

Liam was chatting animatedly on the drive there, which continued well into the night as Louis took candid’s of the band backstage. Liam was perched on a sofa trying to explain to them what he loved about their music with wild hand gestures and an overly eager face, and did not stop gushing over them all throughout their set as well.

Louis shook his head, grabbing a picture of Liam’s delighted face before poking him in the shoulder. “Liam Payne, you are worse than those fan girls out there in the front row,”

Liam was not fazed by this teasing; he was too far gone on the band. “They’re so bloody brilliant, I really hope I get that audition with them.”

Louis rolled his eyes, taking a sip of his beer. “I’m pretty sure it’s in the bag, how could they forget their number one fan?”

Which sure enough, they did not when they asked Liam to come up and join them on stage for a song.

Louis chortled happily, pushing him through the sweaty crowd. “Looks like you got your audition, go kill it!”

Nick suddenly appeared at his shoulder, nodding his head at Liam. “Your friend looks like he’s either going to cream his pants, or vomit all over that stage. Strangely, either scenario delights me,”

“Oh he’ll be fine once they start playing. He really wants to record this album with them. I don’t think we need to be worried about any bodily secretions.”

And about four minutes later, Liam was being dragged over to the bar by the band for a round of pints and shots. Liam smiled wildly at him, giving him a double thumbs up, and yah Louis was pretty sure he was in.

Louis noticed that Nick was still hovering near him, so he swallowed another gulp of beer, asking him the question that was nagging at him all night. “So is Harry here tonight again?”

Nick eyed him up suspiciously for a moment before answering. “Yes, in fact he’s setting up as we speak,”

Louis tried not to whip his head over to the stage, so he slowly and very casually turned his head while also casually sipping his drink. There he was, in all his skinny jean, plaid hipster glory, though today instead of a bandana he had a beaten up fedora on his head. He sat down on the stool and arranged his guitar around him, darting his eyes up to look for Nick.

Nick sighed, mumbling as he ran over to the DJ booth. “Right, I have to go introduce him.”

Liam stuck himself in the spot Nick abandoned, kicking out at Louis’ shoe to get his attention. “This the guy you were telling me about?”

Louis just hummed in agreement as Nick announced. “Hello friends, please give a welcome to _my_ friend, Harry Styles.”

He coughed into his fist once before starting. Louis wasn’t sure what to expect after last week’s song.

_“I heard the thunder, so I braced for the rain, I tried to get out from under, but all was in vain”_

_“There’s no way to stop it from pouring, buckets down from the sky, when you’re stuck in a cloud, and there’s nowhere to go but down”_

_“You try to think about something, to erase all the pain, but you come up with nothing, all your thoughts are in vain”_

_“When your spirit is falling, plummeting from on high, all you see is the ground, when there’s nowhere to go but down…there’s nowhere to go but down”_

Liam cocked an eyebrow at him, as Louis blew out a shaky breath. Suddenly Harry was saying too much. He glanced over at Nick and Niall, who were watching with similar lop sided frowns. Louis focused his attention back on Harry.

_“Nowhere to go but down, when you thought it could not go lower, down, as if under some old lawn mower, life’s been running you over”_

_“Everything’s in slow motion, that hasn’t come to a halt, feels like all your emotions, have been locked in a vault”_

_“It’s like you’re stuck in a painting, unable to cry, or make a sound, and there’s nowhere to go but down”_

_“The gravity of the moment, plucked you out of the sky, for trying to walk on the clouds, when there’s nowhere to go but down…nowhere to go but down”_

He just sat there for a moment looking down at his guitar while the audience clapped and whistled. Louis hurriedly took a picture before Nick scurried over to give him another soothing back rub as he whispered into his ear.

Liam shot Louis a look of concern. “Is he okay?”

Louis watched as Harry nodded along to whatever Nick was saying to him, carefully placing his guitar back into the case. Louis scratched his fingers through the stubble on his chin, shrugging up a shoulder. “I really don’t know.”

But he wanted to.

He made small talk with Liam and Niall so it didn’t seem like he was waiting for Harry and Nick to come back over to them. But much like the week before, Harry’s boyfriend was waiting at the door for him, so he mumbled a quiet goodbye to them, brushing past Louis on the way out. Louis wasn’t sure this was the right move, but he reached out for Harry’s sleeve to stop him. He immediately felt Harry’s whole body go rigid. Louis stepped around from where he was frozen in place, noting the dark look that formed in his boyfriend’s eyes before he faced Harry.

He held his eyes, using the same calming voice he used on his sisters for years. “Harry, it’s okay. If he asks, just tell him I wanted to compliment you, which _I am_. You sounded amazing up there. Smile, Harry, act like this is fine,”

Harry was obedient at least, forcing his lips to curl up, showing off a faint hint of a dimple. Louis didn’t want to know why he listened so well. He gave him an encouraging smile back. “Good see, that was easy. I just wanted to let you know…that if you ever need to talk, you know where I live, okay? About anything, trust me when I say I’m a miserable old bastard who would enjoy the company.”

His lips quirked up for real at that, and fuck if that dimple wasn’t one of the most adorable things Louis had ever seen. He nodded, stepping around Louis with a whispered ‘thanks’ as he headed towards the door, and Louis wanted him to do anything but go home with the guy that grabbed onto his wrist in a very obviously unloving way.

Louis glanced back one more time before flopping down onto a stool at the bar. “What’s up with the curfew?” He turned to Liam, pointing at his phone as he messaged Zayn. “Do you have a curfew?”

Liam grinned up at him, locking the phone and pocketing it. “No, I don’t…but I think I’m going to head out. Celebrate the good news with him. You want a lift back?”

Louis stood up, throwing some money on the bar. “If you don’t mind,”

Niall scowled at them on the way out, but could only hold it for so long before it turned into a grin. “I want a rain check! See you next week, Lou."

The drive home was mostly quiet, besides them singing along quietly to the radio. Louis smiled, turning to Liam. “We’re not half bad, perhaps _we_ should start a band.”

Liam laughed, reaching out to turn the radio down a bit. “We wouldn’t make it one night on tour without bickering. Harry though, wow he’s got great potential,” Liam shifted his eyes at him before focusing back on the road. “You know I don’t like to judge other people’s relationship’s but…something’s not right there.”

Louis slid further down in his seat, kicking his feet up on the dashboard. “Yes, that’s pretty evident given the depressing song selection.”

Liam didn’t say much after that, because really what could they say? They didn’t know anything about Harry’s relationship, just that there was something off about it. Louis was just afraid to think about how off it really was.

*

Louis was up early the next morning, so he figured he would kill a few hours on his patio before meeting up with Zayn and Liam for brunch. He was drinking a cup of tea and going through another set of prints he had just developed when he heard a soft ‘Hi Louis’. He looked up and found Harry watching him warily.

He pushed his glasses up, his face etched in surprise. “Hey, hi! How are you? On your way to work?”

He nodded, his fingers curled over the patio wall separating Louis’ place from the street. “Yes, sort of. I mean I don’t start for a while, just thought I’d say hi, since you know…”

Louis waved his hand, indicating for him to come in. “Well, I don’t have anywhere to be for a while either, come in for some tea.”

Louis got up to run into the kitchen, because he figured Harry couldn’t bolt if he was going to make him a tea. He hollered out at him. “How do you take it, Harry?”

“Uh, cream and sugar?”

He said it as a question, like Louis was going to reprimand him over what he wanted in his tea, which if it were anyone else, yes he would mock them for ruining a perfectly good cup of tea. But he instead busied himself with making what he hopes was the best ruined cup of tea ever.

He brought it out with a plate of cookies that Liam gave him the day before, leftovers from his newly acquired baking obsession. Louis thinks he was just trying to impress Zayn, as if he needed more reasons to be in love with him.

Harry was sitting at the little patio table with his hands clasped in his lap, looking very Venice Beach in his jeans shorts, poncho and backwards snap back. He placed the tea in front of him, moving to his own chair to shuffle the pictures out of the way.

Harry took a sip of the tea, his cheeks flushed by the warmth as it swept through his body. He smiled softly at Louis. “It’s really good, thanks,” He took another sip, glancing at the photos with a frown. “I’m not interrupting you am I?”

Louis grabbed a cookie, pushing the plate towards Harry. Dammit, Liam really was a domestic goddess he grumbled around a bite. He swallowed, shaking his head at Harry. “God no, I’m just trying to get organized is all. I have to do a mockup of the book I’m working on soon, so I’m just sorting through pictures to see what I like best.”

Harry stared intently at the pile before glancing at Louis. “Do you think I could…?”

“Of course, have a go at it.”

Harry eagerly grabbed the stack of photos, his brow furrowed in concentration as he pulled certain ones out, his tongue poking out between his teeth as he placed them out in front of him. Louis watched the process with fascination until he drew back, looking at him expectantly.

Louis leaned forward and was suddenly taken aback. “Wow, Harry…you’re good. Like _really_ good. You’ve got quite an eye on you.”

Harry once again gave him that wide eyed bewildered look. “Yeah?”

Louis really wanted to reach out and shake him and yell ‘Jesus, yes you’re bloody wonderful!’ But he didn’t think he was medically trained to deal with a heart attack. Which is what he thinks Harry would have if he did just that. “Really. I have loads more film to development, I mean if you wanted to come by again during the week and help, that would be brilliant,”

Louis could have sworn Harry lit up like a Christmas tree in that moment, and this, _this_ was the look he should have on stage. “I would love that! I…” And just like the lights dimmed. “I have to be back by seven though, is that alright?”

Louis had to stop himself from groaning out loud. What was with this Dan guy and his fucking rules? But, he had to remember it wasn’t his relationship, and Harry was agreeing to hang out with him, so maybe he would eventually get him to open up.

“Of course, whatever works for you, I’m usually around in the afternoons if I don’t have a client, and I don’t have much coming up this week.”

Harry beamed at him once again. “Awesome.”

*

And it _was_ awesome. Harry finally got comfortable enough around Louis to tell him a little bit more about himself; where he grew up, that he had a sister that he adored, that he loved soppy romantic movies, and that he really wanted to go to film school.

Louis moved his foot out to push lightly against Harry’s leg where it was propped up on his coffee table. “So, why don’t you go then?”

Harry shifted away from Louis, biting down on his lip as he fiddled his fingers around in his lap. “Dan thinks it’s a waste of time,”

Louis shut his eyes and sucked in a breath. Dan. Of course. Louis had also learnt throughout that week with Harry that Dan had a lot of money and seemed to take care of him, but apparently controlled every aspect of Harry’s life. Louis hated making Harry uncomfortable, but he also hated keeping his mouth shut.

“You should do what makes you happy, it’s your life you know.”

Harry squirmed uncomfortably in his spot on the couch, choosing to ignore Louis. Fine. Louis would drop it. For now. Harry eased up, grabbing his shoes to slip into them. “I should probably go,”

Well that’s what Louis got for being a nosy sod. Plus it was almost reaching Harry’s ‘curfew’. Another thing that made Louis want to rip his hair out. He walked Harry to the front door, leaning on it as he watched him walk down the path. “See you tomorrow? You’re playing right?”

Harry gave him a little smile and a wave, making him feel a little bit better. “Yes I’ll be there. See you, Lou.”

Louis closed the door and leaned his head against it thinking ‘what are you doing Louis?’

*

Zayn decided to tag along with Liam this time, even though Liam didn’t really have a reason to be there other than the fact that he wanted to hear Harry sing again. Louis finished up with the band a lot faster than he usually did, as they were being a bunch of divas about having too many photos taken of them. Louis hadn’t had a difficult shoot in a while, so it was kind of refreshing to take some of his ‘Harry’s got an arsehole boyfriend that I would like to hit’ aggression out on someone.

He was still in a bit of a mood when he made his way back out to the bar, where he was surprised to find Harry sitting among everybody. He threw his bags down beside an empty stool, snapping at Niall. “Whiskey and a Guinness…no actually make it two whiskies.”

Niall happily obliged without comment, knowing exactly what Louis had to deal with having worked in the industry just as long as him. Zayn and Liam were both looking at him with identical expressions of shock (of course), while Harry was seemingly amused.

“Rough night?”

He grabbed the whiskey that Niall had placed into front of him, tossing it back. “Yeah, it’s not always fun dealing with twatty musicians who can only take photographs of one side of their face.”

“Hmm, sounds like Zayn some days actually,” Liam pondered thoughtfully.

He pinched Liam in the side, who laughed into his neck. “Shut uppp, I just happen look better from that side.”

Liam pressed a soft kiss to his neck before meeting his eyes. “You look sexy from every side.”

Louis grimaced, grabbing his next shot off the counter. “Niall, I’m going to need more shots to deal with these two, they’re disgusting,” He turned to Harry, who was still grinning at him. “Why are you so happy, did Liam try to make out with your neck as well?”

He laughed, giving a small shrug. That’s when Louis noticed the low cut shirt he had on, exposing a lot of collarbones and tattoos. Louis licked his lips. Shit. He darted his eyes back to Harry, who was looking at him curiously, that grin now a bit of a smirk “I had a good week is all,” He leaned over to the side when he noticed Nick snapping his fingers at him from the DJ booth. He reached over to steal a sip of Louis’ beer before jumping down off his stool. “Gotta go.”

Louis drank down two more shots while Harry settled in, feeling the alcohol strum through his veins to the tune of the song Harry started to sing beautifully yet again.

_“I’m a little lost at sea, I’m a little birdie in a big old tree, ain’t nobody looking for me, here out on the highway”_

_“But I will be found, I will be found, when my time comes down, I will be found…”_

This time when Harry finished he took a proper bow and Jesus, blew a kiss out to them. He pushed through the crowd to get back over to them, and Louis was just drunk enough to throw his arms around him, hugging Harry into his chest.

“Good for you Harry, that song wasn’t proper depressing for once!” He pulled away, holding a dazed Harry by the arms. “ _And_ you silly monkey, you’re only lost at sea because you don’t have a compass! Luckily I’ve got one, so I can be of service,”

Louis was drunk babbling. This wasn’t good. He did however notice that Harry was looking at him in shock. “You, um…you have a compass?”

Louis brightened, tugging up the sleeve of his jumper. “That I do, love, have a look,”

Harry leaned in closer, close enough for Louis to feel the little puffs of breath coming out of him. He looked at Louis, his eyes unreadable. “I have a ship,” He pulled up the sleeve of his t shirt wordlessly, offering Louis a view of what was definitely an old school ship. Huh.

“Would you look at that, two peas in a pod,” Louis needed to make light of whatever tension was going on in the air between them right now. He turned towards Zayn and Liam, waving his arms wildly. “Let’s go dancing!”

Zayn and Liam agreed easily enough, but then Louis remembered…fucking hell. The boyfriend. He glanced at Harry nervously, because fuck he was being an idiot with a big mouth. “Harry, if you have to go that’s totally fine…I mean,”

“Actually, I don’t,” Louis whipped his head up at him. Did he hear that right? Harry cleared his throat. “Dan is out of town for the week, so I’d love to come if you guys don’t mind?”

Louis nodded, his face most likely still pulled into a look of surprise. “Definitely come, yes you should do that.”

“Great! Just give me a minute to change and I’ll meet you guys out front.”

Louis watched him gather up his bags and rush over to the backroom to change presumably, when he felt a tickle of breath against his ear. “I don’t know what you did, Louis,” Louis twisted his neck to meet Nick’s gaze. “But keep doing it. Just be careful, alright?”

Nick gave him a slap on the back and leaned over the bar to whisper to Niall, who gave Louis a massive grin and thumbs up. Okay. He shook his head, gathering up Zayn and Liam to go and wait for Harry by their car.

Zayn hated taking cabs in LA, so he was usually their designated driver, though Louis thinks it was mostly to show off his collection of various black sports cars. Louis leaned against the side as he waited for Harry, casually listening in on the fight the couple at the end of the block was having.

He was too wrapped up in her rant about how ‘facebook ruins lives’ to notice that Harry had been standing in front of him. When he finally did notice he almost fell over.

“I thought you were just going to get changed?” he breathed out (in a slight gasp).

Harry frowned, looking down at his clothes. “I did? I mean, is this not okay?”

This was about seventy five levels of not okay. Louis chewed on his lip, knowing that he was staring, but he could not tear his eyes away. He didn’t know if Harry’s jeans could have gotten tighter, but they did somehow, and he had a sky blue button down on that was barely buttoned, showing off an array of necklaces and the very beginnings of a stomach tattoo, and his hair…his _hair_. Louis didn’t even know he had hair like this because it was always in an obnoxious hat or headband. It was wavy, yet also curly in some places, and massive, and screaming for someone to fuck it up with their hands.

He was still staring. Right. “Didn’t realize you had all that hair, kid. You should wear it like that more often. Now come, fruity drinks await us!”

…

Louis loved West Hollywood. They had the best bars if you asked him, and no not just because that’s where all the gay bars were, but because they made amazing drinks _and_ played amazing music; it was the perfect place if you just wanted to let go.

He forgot how great it felt to just shut his mind off and have handsome strangers grind up on him to hideous top forty songs. He opened his eyes and focused on the booth where he had left Harry, Zayn and Liam, who were all still there when they should be out dancing. He wiggled his way over there, planting himself in front of the table and grabbed the closest drink to him, taking a long much needed sip.

“I need to everyone out on that dance floor right this instance, you can grope Liam out there as well Zayn, snap to it.”

They happily obliged, climbing out of the booth and clinging to each other as they hobbled over to the dance floor.

For the first time all night, Harry had that familiar look of panic on his face. He shook his head at Louis. “No Louis, I can’t,”

“Come on Harry, it’s just a dance.”

Harry looked at him like he was giving him a choice between life and death. He leaned his head down so he was hovering close to Louis’ ear, his voice shaky and low. “ _You can’t dance with a devil on your back._ ”

Louis decided to be bold because fuck it already, and laced their fingers together, his grin big enough to hopefully blind some happiness into Harry. “ _So shake him off._ ”

*

The rest of the night went by in a drunken blur, but Zayn assured him the next day at brunch that everyone made it home safe and sound. That made him feel better, seeing as he didn’t have Harry’s number to check on him, because that would be crossing a line he’s sure Harry wouldn’t be comfortable with. He hated that there needed to be a line in the first place.

Zayn and Liam passed one of those couple’s looks between each other, before putting their coffees down. Zayn took the reins though. “So, about Harry. Do you know what you’re doing there?”

Louis looked up from where he was happily shredding his napkin into a million pieces. He didn’t want to think about what that meant. “What do you mean? He’s just helping me out with the book. He’s good at it.”

Another couple’s look. Louis felt his eye twitch. This time he got Liam. “I’m pretty sure you fancy Harry,”

Louis grit his teeth together, throwing the trashed napkin into a plate. “Harry has a boyfriend remember? A horribly shit boyfriend, but a boyfriend nonetheless.”

Zayn grabbed his hand. “We realize that, but we just wanted to make sure you don’t get hurt,”

“I’m not really worried about me being the one getting hurt here.”

Liam furrowed his brow, his always kind eyes filled with worry. “Has Harry said anything to you about that?”

Louis sank back into the booth with a sigh. “Not really, just the things he tells me, but I’m not stupid, Liam. The guy is controlling, he gives him a bloody curfew for fucks sake. Who knows what else goes on? And honestly, don’t the songs that he sings tell you enough?”

Zayn’s eyes softened as he squeezed his hand. “It’s not your job to save him, Louis. He has to want to do it himself.”

On the cab ride home Louis thought back to the first night he saw Harry and what Nick and Niall had said, that Harry was trying to find his way.

But what if he didn’t want to be saved?

  
*

Harry continued to help Louis the following week, and since Dan was out of town he didn’t have to rush home, which led Louis down a slippery slope of being frighteningly domestic with Harry. Since he was still there around dinner time he offered to cook, which really Louis should have said no to, because he didn’t need to know that Harry could make a mind blowing fettuccini alfredo sauce to go with all of his other charming abilities.

“Harry, _why_ would you make this for me, Christ it’s better than sex,” Louis moaned around a mouthful of noodles.

Harry laughed, settling down next to him on the couch. “I don’t know whether to be really flattered, or really sad for you.”

Louis glared at him. “I _will_ pour this overpriced glass of wine over those ridiculous curls Styles, don’t test me.”

Harry chewed slowly, watching Louis with hooded eyes, who tried not to stare at the obscene cut of his jaw line. He swallowed, leaning in closer. “Wait until you try my mole. It will blow your mind.”

Louis turned away to refill his wine glass, and tried not to think if there was some kind of underlying innuendo there.

And the rest of the week continued on like that, them working side by side and Harry cooking them gourmet meals at night. Louis knew deep down under his skin that this was wrong, but when he saw the difference in Harry’s eyes compared to when he first met him he couldn’t help himself. This wonderful person should be nothing but happy. All the time. Louis also knew that it was coming to an end soon, as Dan was going to be home at the end of the week.

Louis was jittery when he got to the club that Saturday, nervous about the kind of mood that Harry would be in, but he calmed down some thanks to some liquid courage from Niall, and the delightful singer that he was photographing. She wasn’t the kind of act that they usually showcased, but Nick had insisted she was amazing, which Niall seemed to agree about when Louis spotted the two blonde heads sharing a laugh and a drink after her set.

Which meant that Harry was next.

Louis hadn’t seen him come in, but there he was in the spotlight, where he should have been shining, but Louis could already tell that something was wrong. His shoulders were slumped over and he was wearing a mishmash of clothes even more strange than his regular get ups; two plaid button ups over top of one another, his hair looking matted and knotted from where Louis sat, tucked back in a haphazardly done up bandana, and the bags under his eyes were once again noticeable, though a deeper darker purple today.

Louis felt Nick’s eyes on him and shook his head, raising his arms. He wishes he fucking knew. Nick rubbed at his eyes, leaning down towards the mic. “Harry Styles everyone.”

_“Green light, Seven Eleven, you walk in for a pack of cigarettes… don’t smoke, don’t even want to… hey now, check your change”_

_“Dressed up, like a car crash, the wheels are turning but you’re upside down”_

He flicked his eyes up at Louis.

Louis’ hand shook as he brought his beer to his lips.

_“You say when he hits you, you don’t mind…because when he hurts you, you feel alive…hey now is that what it is…”_

Louis felt his heart pounding in his ears.

_“And if you look, you look through me…and if you talk, you talk at me…and when I touch you, you don’t feel a thing…”_

Louis clamored out of his chair, quickly grabbing his bags. Niall gave him a funny look, but he shook his head. “I can’t be here.”

…

Louis jumped out of the cab as soon as they got to the beach, running out to the sand until he collapsed onto his knees. He jammed his palms into his eyes, huffing out ragged breaths. He knows that he shouldn’t have done that, ran out on Harry’s set, but he couldn’t physically be around Harry’s pain any longer.

It was too consuming, he cared too much, and just why, _why_ did this have to be happening to someone like Harry? Louis once thought that he and Greg had hurt each other, but he really had no idea did he? He and Greg were just a couple that grew apart over time, but chose the wrong way of dealing with it. But there was always love there. Louis knew that Greg loved him, and vice versa, but it had just faded into a different kind of love.

Louis didn’t know how long he had sat there, transfixed by the waves, the moon lighting up the beach, the air with its slight fall chill causing him to shiver inside of his jean jacket. He pulled it closer, huddling his knees up to his chest, when he noticed a pair of feet next to him in the sand.

He looked up at Harry, his heart lurching into his throat. He didn’t say anything though, fuck he wouldn’t even know where to start, and just let him settle down onto the sand next to him, bringing his legs into a similar position as Louis. Louis glanced at his profile, his skin looking almost iridescent in the glare of the full moon.

“He hits me,” he said, very matter of fact. And of course, Louis knows this, he listened to the song, and it’s not like the thought hadn’t crossed his mind before. He was just hoping it wasn’t true.

Louis lets him continue, doesn’t look at him; just fixes his gaze on the steady sway of the ocean. “You know people always say it’s like drowning…the abuse...but I see myself more like a mirror. That pieces of me keep shattering, and I don’t know how to put them back together, you know?”

No, Louis doesn’t know, he can’t even to begin to know what something like that feels like. They sat there in silence, while jumbled thoughts ran through Louis’ mind. And then it kind of hit him. The first time he heard Harry sing he felt something, there was a reason he wanted to come back. He thought about this past week that they had spent with each other and for some strange reason they just seemed to fit. Like he needed to be a part of Harry’s life.

Hearing him sing every week, having each melancholy note seep into Louis’ veins was just the beginning. It was the delighted look in his eyes when Louis praised him, the rosy blush on the apples of his cheeks when Louis danced a little too close to him at the club, the comfortable silence between them as they sat watching reruns of Friends over a dinner that Harry had made for them.

But where was all this going? And then suddenly Louis felt it, clenching at his chest like a vise… _the vacancy that sat in my heart, is a space that now you hold_ …that was Harry. He filled that empty space.

He reached his hand over to Harry’s, gently covering it with his own. “I want to put you back together.”

They went back to sitting quietly, nothing between them except the sound of the ocean and their shallow breathing, but Louis never let go of his hand.

Harry finally released a long, steady breath, his voice barely a whisper. “Okay.”

…

They walked hand in hand back to Louis’ apartment, shuffling out of their shoes as Louis closed the door softly behind him. He hesitated behind Harry, placing a calming palm lightly on his hip. He tucked his chin over his shoulder, keeping his voice quiet. “Is it okay if we go lie down?”

Harry nodded and Louis steered him towards his bedroom, opening the blinds once they were inside so he didn’t have to turn on the actual lights. He turned away from Harry while they undressed, lifting the covers for him to crawl in once he was done stripping down to his briefs.

Harry laid out on his back, staring up at the ceiling, while Louis curled up on his side to watch him. He didn’t know what he should do, if it was okay to touch him. He went with lacing their fingers together because Harry seemed okay with that.

He turned to face Louis, rolling onto his side, reaching his own hand out to touch Louis’ cheek. “I know you’re scared to touch me…but I really…could you, please?”

And Louis wanted to smack himself because of course. Jesus Christ, Harry just wanted to feel a touch that felt real, that was loving, and Louis…of course he could do that.

“Of course, anything, Harry.”

Louis inched closer to him, and brought his lips so they were just hovering above Harry’s, searching his eyes. Harry gave a nod and Louis closed in, pressing the lightest kiss to his mouth. He ran a hand through his hair, combing his fingers through his messy curls. He continued to gently massage into his scalp as he parted his lips slightly, teasing him softly with his tongue.

He rolled Harry onto his back, pressing feather light kisses along his jaw before looking up at him. “Let me make you feel loved.”

He felt him shiver underneath him, and spent the next half and hour kissing every inch of Harry’s skin, murmuring how beautiful he was into every curve, how his heart deserved so much love it was overflowing with it, how is voice was so breathtaking that the whole world should be able to hear it.

Harry relaxed under his ministrations, and when he took his time getting him off with his mouth and his clever fingers he finally felt all of the stress leave his body when he choked out Louis’ name in a sigh of relief.

Louis settled down behind him, tucking Harry protectively against him, promising himself as they drifted off to sleep that he would never let him feel any pain again.

…

Louis woke up to the early morning light, he was sure it couldn’t have been nearly six yet. And when he turned over and saw Harry sprawled out against his sheets it all came back to him. He sat up and roamed the yards of snow white skin, taking in the different tattoos, smiling at the silly butterfly smack in the middle of his torso, when he spotted a series of dark purple bruises along his ribs. Louis scanned the rest of him and noted the finger print shaped bruises along his biceps. Well now he knew why Harry was prone to wearing long sleeved shirts.

He felt his anger bubble under the surface and rolled off the bed to grab his camera. He wanted to take a picture of the bruises just in case, but he was pretty sure he wasn’t going to need them. He stood at the end of the bed and zoomed in, trying to keep himself in a calm place so he wouldn’t drive to the nearest gun store. As much as he wanted to, he couldn’t shoot Harry’s boyfriend. Well ex-boyfriend as of today. He had a pretty important book to get out, and then there was still the show at Zayn’s gallery. He didn’t have time to go to jail.

He took another picture of Harry’s side, when a light bulb went off in his head. He lowered his camera, scanning the lines of Harry’s body and immediately went to grab a different camera. He came back and took a picture. And then another, and another, until a little while later he had dozens upon dozens, and his showing for Zayn pretty much ready to go. In his head anyways.

First he needed to take care of something else more important. He crawled over to Harry, dusting a light kiss against his cheek as he whispered in his ear. “Harry, wake up babe…”

He tried a few more kisses for good measure until he was stirring, blinking his eyes open with a little frown. “What’s wrong?”

Louis pushed his hair away from his forehead, dropping a kiss there as well. “Nothing love, I have to run out for a bit, just didn’t want you to panic if you woke up and I wasn’t here. I’ll be back soon, promise.”

They looked at each other for a few minutes, unspoken words passing between them that didn’t need to be spoken. Though there was one thing that Louis needed to know.

“Harry…what changed? I mean for you, why…why me?”

He reached out for Louis’ arm, stroking a thumb across his tattoo. “Because I finally found my compass.”

*

The rest of Louis’ morning was spent doing a really annoying thing, which included having to wake Nick up with a one sentence phone call – “We’re going to get Harry’s things.” – which had Nick flying out of bed and pulling on clothes at the speed of lighting as he sighed happily into the phone. “I’ve been waiting for this day for so long Louis, you have no idea.”

So with the muscle of Nick, Zayn and Liam, they pulled up to Harry’s place, where Louis very calmly advised Dan that he would no longer be in any sort of contact with him and if he tried, Louis would be sure to send the incriminating photographs he had straight to the police. Nick paused beside Louis with a box of Harry’s clothes, waiting for the answer.

He looked down angrily at the ground, clenching his fists at his sides. “ _Fine._ ”

Louis nodded, pulling open the front door for Nick.“It better be fine, Daniel. I know some people who could make it very unfine for you. I’m sure you wouldn’t be missed. Have a nice day!”

Nick nudged his shoulder as they lugged the rest of Harry’s things to Liam’s truck. “You know a bunch of thugs now, do you?”

Louis laughed as they climbed into the backseat. “I figured Niall’s Irish, he must know some shady people,”

“This is true,” Nick draped an arm over his shoulder, hugging him into his side. “Thanks you know? He needed you.”

“I know. I needed him too.”

…

After a quick stop at Zayn’s gallery to look at the space and explain to him what he wanted to do, Zayn’s eyes were wide and impressed by the time he was done. “How long do you think it will take?”

“Can you give me a couple of weeks? I kind of want it to be perfect,”

Zayn pulled him into a hug, with Liam joining in on the other side. “It will be, Lou.”

He finally got home around one, hoping that Harry wasn’t too worried about where he was. He found him curled up in bed still, his nose stuck in a recent book that had featured some of Louis’ photographs. He closed it shut once he saw Louis leaning against the doorframe, placing it beside him on the bed. He smiled softly.

“You’re back.”

Louis eased off the frame, walking over to sit beside him on the bed. “Sorry, it took a little longer than I expected,” He reached out for his fingers, linking them with his own. “I went and got your stuff for you. Zayn’s going to bring it by later.”

Harry’s breath hitched as his hand started trembling. “What? You didn’t have to do that…”

Harry searched his eyes before closing his own as he leaned in for his a kiss, his heart beating to the rhythm of the words in his head... _you sit there in your heartache, waiting on some beautiful boy to save you from your old ways_...

Louis brought their linked fingers to his lips. “Yes, Harry, I did. Everything is fine okay? You’re safe here.”

I love you.

Soul mates.

My better half.

I’ve been waiting for you.

Those were all the things going through Louis’ mind at the moment. But he didn’t say them, not yet.

*

Three weeks later, Louis was.

It was the night of his showing at Zayn’s gallery and he was giddy with nerves, but mostly bursting at the seams from all things Harry. They had gotten him settled into Louis’ place with little fuss, and he now played more frequently at the bar with Nick’s prodding and Louis’ encouragement, even finally being brave enough to sing something that he wrote himself, almost bringing Louis’ to tears with how proud he was of him. They had even talked about Harry going to film school for the summer session, his face a mix of excited expressions as he pointed out all the classes to Louis that he was interested in. The only downside was that he wasn’t sure if he could afford it. But Louis was going to find a way for it to work if this was something that made Harry look that glowing and happy.

He fit right in with their group of friends, easily sliding into Sunday brunch like he’d always been a fixture there.

But really, he fit right into Louis’ life like he’d always been a fixture there. Even Greg noticed the day that Louis ran into him at a recording studio, giving Louis a warm hug, cocking his head at him as he took in his features. “You look really happy, Lou,”

Louis blushed and nodded, kicking at an invisible piece of lint on the ground before meeting his eyes again. “I am.”

Greg gave his arm a squeeze before turning away. “It looks good on you. He’s really lucky whoever he is.”

No Louis thought as his eyes found Harry across the gallery. He was the one who was lucky.

Zayn stepped into the middle of the room, clinking a knife against his champagne glass. “If I could have everyone’s attention, I believe Mr. Louis Tomlinson is ready for us.”

Louis nodded at Niall, and they made their way over to a couple of stools set up in the corner, Niall slinging a guitar over his neck. Harry quirked an eyebrow at him, mouthing ‘what is this?’ Louis just winked, clearing his throat before he spoke into the microphone.

“Good evening everyone. So tonight’s showing is something a little different. This song doesn’t really have to do with my piece, but someone I know likes to express themselves this way, so I’m giving them one back. This is my friend Niall on guitar, because I’m not good at everything alright?”

There was a murmur of laughter throughout the crowd and Louis found Harry’s eyes once again…his anchor. “This was one of my favorite songs growing up, so here we go,”

_“You’ve got to give a little, take a little, and let your poor heart break a little, that’s the story of, that’s the glory of love”_

_“You’ve got to laugh little, cry a little, until the clouds roll by a little that’s the story of, that’s the glory of love”_

_“As long as there’s the two of us, we’ve got the world and all its charms, and when the world is through with us, we’ve got each other’s arms”_

_“You’ve got to win a little, lose a little, and always have the blues a little, that’s the story of, that’s the glory of love”_

_“Well that’s the story of, that’s the glory of love…”_

Louis stood up and gave his bow, turning to give one to Niall as well. “Thank you, my good lad.”

Niall tugged him into a one armed hug, his voice thick with the threat of tears. “Such a wanker, almost making me cry,”

Louis snorted. “You practiced it with me. idiot.”

“Yeah, but Harry’s right here watching, means more this time…lord I need a drink.”

Louis turned in him the direction of the champagne, giving him a friendly push. He felt arms hugging around him, and his favorite smile pressed into his neck. “That song was. Too. Cute. I didn’t even know you could sing,”

“Not nearly as good as you, babe. Come on; let’s go unveil the real part of the show.”

Louis took his hand and led him over to a wall where there was a red sheet covering the majority of it. He turned to Zayn, giving him the go ahead to take it off. Zayn grinned and pulled it off, and Louis could have sworn it happened in slow motion.

He could hear the whispers of the crowd behind him, but all he was focused on was Harry. He stood in front of it, his mouth hanging open in awe. He swallowed a few times; his eyes still trained on the series pictures behind the glass. “That’s…it’s me? You did your piece on me?”

Louis slotted their fingers together, squeezing them to get his attention. Harry blinked down at him. “I told you I would put you back together.”

And he did. He had taken dozens of photos of Harry’s different body parts on Polaroid film so it would give him more of a shattered affect, and then pieced them back together so they completed a mural of well, Harry.

Harry ran his fingers over the title, repeating it out loud. “My mirror staring back at me,”

Louis turned him so they were facing each other, linking his arms around his neck.

“Yes…I’m looking right at the other half of me.”

 

_The vacancy that sat in my heart, is a space that now you hold_

FIN

**Author's Note:**

> A list of songs from start to finish!
> 
> If I knew - Bruno Mars  
> Tiny Dancer - Elton John  
> Creep - Radiohead  
> Better Together - Jack Johnson  
> Stop This Train - John Mayer  
> Nowhere To Go - Ron Sexsmith  
> I Will Be Found (Lost At Sea) - John Mayer  
> Shake It Out - Florence + The Machine  
> Stay (Faraway, So Close) - U2  
> Mirrors - Justin Timberlake  
> When You Were Young - The Killers  
> Glory of Love - Bette Midler  
> A Case of You - Joni Mitchell


End file.
